How does Astrology work?

Hi all,

I was in a lecture yesterday for Uni, and the lecture was focusing on the Philosophy of Science, and the distinction between pseudo-science and 'real science'. The lecturer made mention that astrology is a pseudo-science, and that it should not take on the title of science at all and simply remain a non-science. He also said that for anybody to believe that celestial bodies have an effect on our lives is silly.

This got me to thinking... How, according to the principles of astrology, do the planets and stars and their movements affect our lives on earth? Is there really a link between us?

And would you class Astrology as a non-science or a scientific practice?

Blessings,

Kiama

In the same way that the full moon affects people once a month, the planets have a pull on people's lives. It's more of a philosophy than a science, I believe - a way of living your life aware of the energies that are affecting your behaviors and environments every day.

Of course there is a science involved in mapping out the planets, but if you experiment on the credibility of astrology, (just as scientists experiment on the credibility of ESP or even tarot) the results will most likely not be indicative of much reliability. Scientists will make up reasonings that people only believe that astrology and tarot are pertinent to their lives because of those two mediums' high range of interpretability. What they don't understand is that interpretation is a large part of both tarot and astrology.

Kiama,

Astrology is a science and an art.

It is a science because it is comprised of principles and laws which have accumulated over centuries of observation and have been validated through studies of the lives of thousands of people,

It is an art because it requires sensitivity and the capacity to make intutive connections between many different elements - the passage of the planets around the sun, the historical body of knowledge that has built up over centuries, the psychological, mythological and spiritual attributions that are backed on much experience.

The practice of astrology requires excellent communication and empathetic skills.

Lee started a very interesting thread on this subject some time ago. Here's the link: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13149&highlight=does+astrology+work

Kiama said:

He also said that for anybody to believe that celestial bodies have an effect on our lives is silly.

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Your prof probably does not know a serious farmer nor a fisherman. Ppl are quick to forget that astrology is very very intimately linked w/agriculture and didn't start out as sun sign horoscopes for everyday ppl. The moon for example has a very definite effect on tides, the growth of plants etc. This is important information ppl once needed to know to be able to work towards a successful harvest.

Science is just a myth, like any other. I don't try to distinguish sciences from arts, although I recognize the distinction. I think the time has long past since scientists could ascribe to the theory the sciences are wholly objective. This thinking has carried over from years and years of Western discourse, perhaps beginning w/Cartesian thinking, perhaps even beforehand.... but now w/deconstructionism and postmodernism, this myth of empiricism/positivism is beginning to erode to be replaced by another.

I work for the World Federation of Scientists. It's an NGO.

My opinion of Scientists in general has gone down a great deal since I have worked there. There are some that I take my hat off and bow down to. Bow down very low indeed.

Many of the others are just chimpanzees with diplomas.

The same goes for Philosophers.

Of course Astrology is a science.

(I don't have a diploma of any kind, except the one that Major Tom gave me once. Does this make me a chimpanzee without a diploma? Is that good or bad?)

Re: Re: How does Astrology work?

isthmus nekoi said:

[Science is just a myth, like any other. I don't try to distinguish sciences from arts, although I recognize the distinction. I think the time has long past since scientists could ascribe to the theory the sciences are wholly objective. This thinking has carried over from years and years of Western discourse, perhaps beginning w/Cartesian thinking, perhaps even beforehand.... but now w/deconstructionism and postmodernism, this myth of empiricism/positivism is beginning to erode to be replaced by another.

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I think there is still a positivist paradigm, Isthmus, and that is simply the way the world is. It's just language and concepts. Medicine is both a science and an art; surgery can be too.

It would be good to think of a new descriptor. Systems of knowledge and experience, based on acumulated observations over a period of time?

Oh, surely positivism is still alive - afterall, you can't overturn what has been around for centuries. It's just getting more and more problematized these days. The erosion is beginning. Certainly in the humanities, you will get laughed at if you still believe in the total objectivity of science. This has been rejected in mainstream theoretical discourse for quite some time (perhaps since the 70s? Not sure when exactly this came about). No one will take you seriously; it is tantamount to being a 'flat earther' lol.

Systems of knowledge and experience, based on acumulated observations over a period of time

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Sounds good to me... although I'm not sure what this new descriptor is for. It seems to describe most systems, but I like how it is distinguished from ideology.

I don't know how Astrology works

There's no agreement even amongst Astrologers. Though you will find an excellent discussion in The Mountain Astrologer Issue 101.

There are Astrologers, such as Dr. Percy Seymour, who argue that there are subtle but material forces at work and point to the natural lunar and solar rhythms followed by many animals. You might try asking him if he denies any empirical connection between lunar cycles and the tides for but one example.

There are also those who believe that the gravitational pull of the planets on the Sun influences solar flares and the 'solar wind' - in turn affecting us.

There are also the more esoteric Astrologers who believe that there is no material affect - the movements of the planets are rather like dials on a clock, they are indicators of events not causes of them - 'As above, so below'

Is Astrology a Science? It depends how you define Science. I presume your prof believes solely in the empirical method and would define Science accordingly. 'Science' simply means 'knowing' - 'knowledge of something specified or implied.'

Thus it comes down to epistemology - theories of knowledge and how we can gain knowledge. Astrology certainly is knowledge and without it we would know little of the cosmos in which we live. It is even useful knowledge, as Isthmus points out the link with the cycle of nature meant that Astrological work often made the difference between life and death in agricultural communities.

I happen to believe that there are more ways than one of gaining knowledge - and your prof will also recognise this if you can persuade him to devote half a minute to it. Empirical science is but one of those ways.

Ask him if he believes Sir Isaac Newton was a scientist of any note. If he believes Newton was one of the giants of science, then ask him why Newton was also an Astrologer. Was Newton both a scientific genius and 'silly' at the same time.

If he insists on cause and effect relationships, ask him if he believes in chaos theory or Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

He might just stop and think.

PS

If he believes in empiricism ask him whether he's studies Astrology, if he hasn't how does he come to the conclusion that it is 'silly' without any evidence. If he has ask him what evidence he has got.